25 faces: Leaders fighting HIV/AIDS in Colorado

24 Allan Frederick

It happens all to often, Frederick said: People diagnosed with HIV/AIDS fall into circumstances in which they can no longer afford housing.

Fredrick, 67, started working with the HIV/AIDS community in the early 90s for the City and County of Denver. He was the administrator of federal funding that ultimately went to housing for people with HIV/AIDS.

That happened in coordination with the Colorado AIDS Project, and many people living with HIV/AIDS were able to receive housing vouchers and funds that kept them from homelessness. After retiring from the city, Fredrick continued his work as president of Chesney-Kleinjohn Housing Inc., which offers a 17-unit apartment complex to low-income families affected by HIV/AIDS.

Part of Fredrick’s passion for the HIV/AIDS cause stems from seeing the epidemic and its effects on the people around him. He lost many friends and a partner to HIV/AIDS

That’s the time when Fredrick noticed how people struggled to pay their bills after their diagnosis. The diagnoses of the past were death sentences, as he remembers. People went onto programs like SSI to get an income and only made enough to pay for meals.

Fredrick realizes that HIV/AIDS is becoming easier to live with, thanks to better knowledge and medicine. But he wants the younger generation of LGBT people to realize that HIV is not to be taken lightly – staying healthy is important.

As a board member of the Rocky Mountaineers, an LGBT motorcycle club, since 1995, Frederick was there when the group organized Denver’s Cruise Against AIDS with the Denver Dykes on Bikes, to raise money for the Colorado AIDS Project. They also have contributed to other organizations that benefit the LGBT community and support people with HIV/AIDS.